Saving Seafood

Colder waters off West Coast mark end of “the blob”

August 28, 2019 — Record high Pacific Ocean temperatures recorded off the West Cost in recent years have receded to near normal, according to a report on the California Current.

That cool shift marks the end of “the blob,” the mass of warm water that dominated the West Coast, and of the El Nino event that followed. It’s unclear, however, what that means for fish and marine mammals, scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration stated in the 2019 ecosystem status report for the California Current Ecosystem.

“The big thing is that a lot of the physical conditions of the ocean here off of our coast are beginning to return to normal,” said Elliott Hazen,” a research ecologist with NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center. “But it is not clear yet whether the ecosystem is as well.”

Read the full story at The San Diego Union-Tribune

JOHN FIORILLO: The US aquaculture industry is on life support

August 28, 2019 — We’ve been writing quite a bit lately about the fledgling land-based salmon farming sector in the United States, but before we rush into predictions about the coming of a golden new age in US aquaculture, let’s take a real assessment of where things are right now with aquaculture industry we currently have.

Spoiler alert: Things aren’t good.

US aquaculture production has been on a flat to decreasing trend since the early 2000s. There are spurts of growth in various species sectors, but nothing substantial. And the heavy lifter, catfish, has been in steep decline for more than a decade.

In 2008, for example, US catfish farmers produced 233,564 metric tons of fish. By 2016, production was down by nearly 38 percent to 145,230 metric tons, according to the most recent data from NOAA Fisheries.

Read the full story at IntraFish

Meet Zach Fyke, Observer Compliance Liaison

August 28, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Zachary Fyke is the new Observer Compliance Liaison in the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s Fisheries Sampling Branch. A former fishery observer himself, he has been there and done that, as they say, and is up to the task.

“Observers can spend days or weeks aboard commercial fishing vessels, and the work is intense,” Fyke said. “Conditions may be uncomfortable. Long trips in close quarters and the observer’s role in monitoring compliance can sometimes lead to tensions on a vessel. That is where I come in.”

In addition to resolving conflicts, Fyke also helps ensure that vessels comply with procedures that keep the observer program on track to meet monitoring goals. That includes adequate observer notification about trips, taking observers when scheduled, and providing safe and suitable accommodations for them on the vessel. It also means allowing observers to do their job, and complying with safety and other environmental regulations.

Read the full release here

NOAA Fisheries – FB19-048: King Mackerel Commercial Trip Limit Reduced to 50 Fish per Day in Federal Waters off Florida Between the Flagler/Volusia and Miami-Dade/Monroe County Boundaries on September 1, 2019

August 28, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

WHAT/WHEN:

  • The daily vessel trip limit will decrease from 75 to 50 fish at 12:01 a.m., local time, on September 1, 2019, for commercial vessels fishing for Atlantic migratory group king mackerel in federal waters off Florida between the Flagler/Volusia and Miami-Dade/Monroe County boundaries.

WHY THIS TRIP LIMIT REDUCTION IS HAPPENING:

  • When commercial landings of Atlantic migratory group king mackerel reach or are projected to reach 75 percent of the quota, regulations are in place to reduce the daily trip limit.
  • The trip limit reduction is necessary to slow the rate of commercial harvest to avoid exceeding the quota.

AFTER THE TRIP LIMIT REDUCTION:

  • The 50-fish daily vessel trip limit will remain in effect through February 29, 2020, unless the Southern zone’s quota is reached and harvest of king mackerel is closed earlier.
  • An action to increase the trip limit in federal waters off Volusia County (between Flagler/Volusia County, Florida, boundary and the Volusia/Brevard County, Florida, boundary) from April 1 through September 30 from 75 fish to 3,500 lbs, is undergoing rulemaking.

This bulletin provides only a summary of the existing regulations. Full regulations can be found in the Federal Register or at https://www.ecfr.gov.

New Jersey Department of Agriculture visits local producer to highlight state’s seafood industry

August 27, 2019 — Officials with the New Jersey Department of Agriculture (NJDA), as well as state and local officials, paid a visit to Viking Village in Barnegat Light as a part of the department’s efforts to highlight the importance of seafood in the state.

The commercial fishing industry generated USD 6.2 billion (EUR 5.6 billion) for the state in 2018, according to stats from NOAA, placing the state at fifth in the U.S. for the value of its commercial fishing. Viking Village, a commercial seafood producer in Barnegat Light, New Jersey, works with the National Marine Fisheries Service and the various management councils to emphasize the state’s seafood.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MAINE: Second round of meetings scheduled on right whale issue

August 23, 2019 — Lobstermen will get another bite at the right whale problem over the next few weeks at a series of meetings scheduled by the Department of Marine Resources.

The meetings are being held to discuss rules proposed by the National Marine Fisheries Service that could force Maine fishermen to cut the number of vertical buoy lines they use by 50 percent.

Earlier this week, DMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher announced that he would hold a second round of meetings with each of the state’s seven Lobster Zone Management Councils to consider area-by-area suggestions of how to deal with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s proposed rule that would require a 50 percent reduction of vertical endlines on lobster traps in much of the Gulf of Maine.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

Detecting Fish from Ocean-Going Robots to Complement Ship-Based Surveys

August 23, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The ocean is vast, and fish swim.

These are challenges for scientists who need to find out when, where, and how many, fish are found in Alaska’s marine waters. They also want to know which species and what ages are found there—all information essential to managing Alaska’s valuable commercial fisheries sustainably.

Recent advances in autonomous vehicle and fish finders or echosounder (sonar) technology may help overcome those challenges. A new NOAA Fisheries study demonstrates that unmanned surface vehicles can expand the range and duration of ship-based acoustic fish surveys.

“This opens a window in time and space that we didn’t have using ships alone,” said Alex De Robertis, the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center scientist who led the study. “Ship-based surveys are limited because they are short, and mostly done in summer—we don’t know what happens the rest of the time. Our results show that oceangoing robots such as saildrones now make autonomous long-term acoustic measurements possible.”

Read the full release here

Fishermen question settlement of convicted Carlos Rafael

August 23, 2019 — The penalties keep coming for New Bedford fishing mogul Carlos Rafael, the self-styled “Codfather” who once dominated groundfishing in the Northeast with one of the largest independently owned fleets in the country.

He is halfway through a 46-month federal prison sentence for violations that included falsely labeling fish, smuggling cash, tax evasion and falsifying federal records. He also was fined more than $300,000 and ordered to sell off two vessels and permits in that criminal case.

This week, Rafael was hit with more than $3 million in fines and a lifetime ban as part of a settlement agreement in a civil case brought against him by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

Troubling questions, concerns raised about off-shore wind farms

August 22, 2019 — Oceanographer Jon Hare listed the effects of offshore wind development on the marine environment.

There’s disturbance to the sea floor during installation of turbine platforms. Noise from pile-driving and other activities. Increases in boat traffic. Lighting of the project site. Dredging for electric cables.

The impacts can be far-reaching.

“Putting a pile into the sediment in essence is habitat alteration,” said Hare, a science and research director with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center. “You’re taking relatively smooth, unconsolidated sediments and converting it to hard structure, converting that habitat into something else.”

Although Hare didn’t name Vineyard Wind during a seminar on Wednesday, or talk about the company’s 84-turbine wind farm proposed in waters south of Martha’s Vineyard, in Massachusetts, the potential impacts he detailed speak to some of the reasons why NOAA has raised concerns about the project, which has led to further scrutiny of the application by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

Read the full story at the Providence Journal

MAYOR MITCHELL DISCUSSES NOAA LEGAL SETTLEMENT WITH CARLOS RAFAEL

August 22, 2019 — Mayor Jon Mitchell is expanding on his comments on the settlement reached this week between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the imprisoned “Codfather” Carlos Rafael.

As part of the settlement, Rafael will have to give up all commercial fishing by December 31, 2019, and all scalloping by March 31, 2020. In addition, Rafael is ordered to a $3,010,633 civil monetary penalty and relinquish the seafood dealer permit issued to Carlos Seafood by September 1.

According to NOAA, Rafael I is required to sell his fishing vessels and permits and will be allowed to keep the proceeds. Free to sell his licenses to whomever he pleases, Rafael has indicated that he intends to keep all of them in New Bedford.

Read the full story at WBSM